Spectacular foliage season predicted for Connecticut

Published 5:49 pm, Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Photo: Kathleen Schassler - Middletown Press

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Leaves are just beginning to change colors at Black Pond in Middlefield. Peak foliage will be arriving in the northeast and northwest corners of the state around Columbus Day and extending to the shoreline through early November. less

Leaves are just beginning to change colors at Black Pond in Middlefield. Peak foliage will be arriving in the northeast and northwest corners of the state around Columbus Day and extending to the shoreline ... more

Photo: Kathleen Schassler - Middletown Press

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Autumn leaves beginning to turn bright red were an eye-pleasing contrast to Technicolor vehicles and blue skies at the Middlesex County Historical Society’s 29th annual antique car and classic truck show Sunday at Palmer Field in Middletown Press. less

Autumn leaves beginning to turn bright red were an eye-pleasing contrast to Technicolor vehicles and blue skies at the Middlesex County Historical Society’s 29th annual antique car and classic truck show ... more

Photo: Cassandra Day - The Middletown Press

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Splashes of color are seen peeking through the canopy at Black Pond, in Middlefield this week. Peak foliage will be arriving in the northeast and northwest corners of the state around Columbus Day and extending to our shoreline through early November. less

Splashes of color are seen peeking through the canopy at Black Pond, in Middlefield this week. Peak foliage will be arriving in the northeast and northwest corners of the state around Columbus Day and extending ... more

Photo: Kathleen Schassler - Middletown Press

Spectacular foliage season predicted for Connecticut

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MIDDLETOWN >> Connecticut’s fall foliage season has arrived, and state foresters predict a stellar season filled with vibrant colors.

Still mostly green, the mid-state landscape is now splashed with reds, oranges, yellows, and purples. It won’t be long until the bright hues of the season reach their peak.

Leaf peepers may want to check a new interactive foliage report map, created by the state’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. The map helps to forecast the progression of colors in the state.

This week, foliage will peak in the state’s northwest and northeast corners. Peak colors will best be seen mid-state from mid-to late-October. Shoreline colors are estimated to peak from late October to early November.

“Weather conditions have been advantageous this summer to set Connecticut up for a really nice foliage season with great colors,” according to Christopher Martin, director of the State Forester at Bureau of Natural Resources, DEEP.

The changing leaf color is triggered by shorter days of sunlight, combined with variable temperatures and rain.

Opportunities to view the colorful scenery are available on both land and water.

A fall foliage walk-presentation will be offered from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 19, at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife refuge in Westbrook.

The event coincides with National Wildlife Refuge Week, Oct. 12 to 18.

Park Ranger Shaun Roche and wildlife biologist Kristina Vagos will lead the walk through the “colorful woods” of Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife refuge in Westbrook.

The Westbrook refuge is part of more than 36,000 acres of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish & Wildlife Refuge that spans the New England watershed states of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. The refuge helps to protect the diversity of native plants, fish and wildlife species and their ecosystems.

The Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge has 10 sections, along 70 coastal miles that cover more than 1,000 acres of forest, barrier beach, tidal wetland, and fragile island habitats.